What the Lord Requires of Us

“And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10: 12-13. NIV).

Moses continues his farewell discourse to the people. In these verses he concisely teaches what the Lord requires. R. Dennis Cole in his commentary on Deuteronomy (The Disciples’ Study Bible Nashville: Holman, 1988. p. 226) wrote: “The demands of God are placed upon His chosen people. Such demands are neither arbitrary nor capricious, but are intended to make life both livable and satisfying.” Five requirements are outlined in Moses’ summary of the Lord’s expectations of His people:

(1) “Fear the Lord your God.” To fear God is to hold Him in highest reverence. Recognize the power and omnipotence of God. Stand in awe of Him. Submit to Him and to His rulership in all of life.

(2) “Walk in all His ways.” This implies knowing God and seeking to follow His guidance in all areas of life. Walk implies being in step with, as in a disciplined and precisioned march. We must know God’s ways before we can walk in them.

(3) “Love Him.” Unconditional allegiance to God is the adoration He requires from His followers. Such love seeks to please the Beloved. “Christian love has God for its primary object and expresses itself in explicit obedience to God’s commands.” (W. E. Vine, Complete Expository Dictionary. Nashville, Nelson, 1996. p. 382).

(4) “Serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” To serve implies complete allegiance to—as a soldier pledged to his country or a slave to his master. But in serving God, His subjects choose willingly to enter into the joy of allegiance to Him, “with heart and soul” indicates the whole of mind and will, the seat of the emotions and the spirit.

(5) “To observe the Lord’s commands.” Moses had made two trips up the mountain to receive the commandments from God. They were written on tablets of stone that would travel with the people. They were important and worthy of being followed. The commands of God have been recorded and passed down to us for our benefit, orderly living, and just treatment of others. When we fear the Lord, walk in His ways, love Him and serve Him, it becomes much easier to live by God’s commands. Through the Spirit of God, Moses arranged these instructions to the people in the right order.

Let us pray that we can remember and practice these requirements for living the good life, a life devoted fully to God.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, November 13, 2010